Perforation Warranty ?

[Shanusacarabus]

Hi all, just wondered if any of you guys have had any experience over the 30 year perforation warranty ??

The reason I ask is that i bought a Xreg ( 2000 ) C200k in November/December and in that little time rust has appeared on all 4 wings as well as the boot and 4 doors and very very slightly on the bonnet, I took the car to a bodyshop for a quote and it was them that told me about this warranty.

Trying to claim on this has been no end of trouble though and before i bore you with all the details i wondered if anybody else had claimed for this and how it went ????

Cheers all

 

[Shanusacarabus]

And this rust was not visible when i purchased the car, it had been garaged up to me buying it and im guessing that 4 months in open weather has sped up the rusing proccess..... just get that in before being accused of buying a wreck to do up for free hahaha,

Thanks again

 

[jberks]

Many of us have, but a few years ago. Your problem may be that you're just slightly too late.
The perforation warranty stands if you have full dealer history, but yours isn't perforated, its rusty. Perforation is when doors rot from the inside etc.
Cover for surface rust is normally limited to cars up to 8 years old with full FMBSH that haven't had any work done before.

 

[Shanusacarabus]

Im not technically minded like that so when i say rusty/perforation i could be confusing the two.... the service history was one of the problems i encountered..... although the car has full MBSH it doesnt show on there systems for last 3 years although i have forwarded a copy of my service book for them to look at and update there systems.
whats the difference between rust and perforation.... mine has started as bubbling and only one wing has burst to show classic rust

 

[television]

Every bubble will have water in it at some stage, often coming through the poor quality metal that was used,this pushes the paint out in the form af a bubble.

Its only when sanded down that you can be 100% sure, if the metal comes up bright and clean, then its a paint problem. If there are any black marks/specs in the sanded area, then that metal is porous and is letting water pass through it, pushing off the paint into bubbles in the process

 

[Mr Teddy Bear]

Hi,
do a thread search for 'MOBILO' in the carbody/consructive section.
However in the present economic climate, unless your willing to take civil court action ( bearing in mind the atitude toward the VALEO W211 Radiator design fault) I would suspect that the answer will remain no.

 

[Alex M Grieve]

Hi all, just wondered if any of you guys have had any experience over the 30 year perforation warranty ??

The reason I ask is that i bought a Xreg ( 2000 ) C200k in November/December and in that little time rust has appeared on all 4 wings as well as the boot and 4 doors and very very slightly on the bonnet, I took the car to a bodyshop for a quote and it was them that told me about this warranty.

Trying to claim on this has been no end of trouble though and before i bore you with all the details i wondered if anybody else had claimed for this and how it went ????

Cheers all

I had a car of similar age and type (estate). I had 2 episodes of bubbling rust which were repaired free of charge after the dealer I took it to got authorisation.

Much has been written on the Forum about this problem and about people's experience. It is worth doing a search using the button on the toolbar above. Hawk20 wrote a recent item which clarified that cars built since 1998 should have 30 years cover (assuming a correct maintenance record and no damage), whereas the "8 year rule" applied to cars before that era. Sadly, some of the dealers tend to reject approaches out of hand and quote "8 years" when according to Hawk's posts, that is not correct.

Have a look on search and see how this might play out in your case.

 

[Shanusacarabus]

Im not going to threaten them with any action i dont think, at the end of the day its a 8 yr old car... Its the fact that they gave it a 30 yrs warranty and the excuses they gave me for refusal, to be honest thats why i have asked you guys as i dont know anything about rust/perforation and the rate its coming through.
Like i said its mainly there excuses that has my back up..... Telling me its not MBSH and the one that really got me going was being told i had not personally put any capital into the car yet and i could just be getting it done up to sell on at a profit. Even the Accident repair center that MB dealer sent me to said they have acted out of order by not sending the photos to MBUK... and also that the whole warranty claim is a lottery really.
Anyway thanks for the replies so far guys... you really are helping

 

[jberks]

Im not going to threaten them with any action i dont think, at the end of the day its a 8 yr old car... Its the fact that they gave it a 30 yrs warranty and the excuses they gave me for refusal, to be honest thats why i have asked you guys as i dont know anything about rust/perforation and the rate its coming through.
Like i said its mainly there excuses that has my back up..... Telling me its not MBSH and the one that really got me going was being told i had not personally put any capital into the car yet and i could just be getting it done up to sell on at a profit. Even the Accident repair center that MB dealer sent me to said they have acted out of order by not sending the photos to MBUK... and also that the whole warranty claim is a lottery really.
Anyway thanks for the replies so far guys... you really are helping

The do up for profit thing was introduced to stop dealers taking the mickey but they get around that by simply requiring you to have owned the car for 6 months prior to repair so not an obstacle in your case, even if you have to wait a few weeks.
The MBSH is another tricky one but if you have the service book to prove the work was done by a dealer - no issue there.
The 8/30 year is a bit grey afaik. The overall warranty did switch from 8 yrs to 30 in 1998 but there isn't a definitive rule as to what is 'perforation' and what isn't, Hence, my description differers from others and all views appear equally valid.
Do persevere, you may yet win and if a dealer isn't helping, try a different one.

 

[Shanusacarabus]

Thanks Jberks, however visiting another dealer may be out of the question as iv already escalated it to MB customer services and they backed up the dealer... they did however say if i had proof of service history then they would look into it ( which i have now e-mailed them ).
Hopefully this will sway them ( along with the fact of how this claim has been handled so far ) and authorise the repairs or at least contrebute some of the cost.

 

[Shanusacarabus]

Still no reply from cust services... ill let you all know tho folks

 

[Shanusacarabus]

My lord.... i got to say these guys on customer services aint that good at all... they kinda get a dig in every time they reply.
Anyway the reply is still a no but they are investigating the missing service history with Leeds MB dealer... the same dealer who is telling them i bought this car with rust already on it..... oh and the same dealer who didnt bother to forward the photos of my car to wherever they send em.....


Now as i said before this car didnt have any perforation 4-5 months ago when i bought it..... but they insist it must have done.... anyway all that aside between the dealer and customer services they decided that it aint getting done....... my question is does anybody have any information on how to complain... not just at the decision but in the handling of this.... this is after all Mercedes-benz we are talking about and i just cant get any further with the people im talking to.

Ta peeps